A few days ago we heard about the woeful state of maternity care in London. But fear not, Labour has ridden to the rescue like a knight in shining (payed for by the tax payer) armour. Yes, Alan Johnson has pledged an extra £122 million annually to ensure:
“a gold standard of maternity services for women in every part of the country”
Well that’s it then, problem solved. Everyone knows that poor healthcare is always, always, the result of underfunding. For example, and not many people know this, the reason we have such a problem with MRSA is that staff and visitors in NHS hospitals simply don’t have enough £10 notes to wipe their hands on.
When I think about Labour’s tokenistic response to public sector failure such as that displayed by Alan Johnson I’m reminded of something Milton Friedman once said:
“There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government.”
That is government, and in particular that’s Labour government.